– Make photocopies of the worksheet for each student.
– Assign students groups of 4 – 5 students.
– Give each group 33 sheets of paper, a goniometer or protractor, carbon paper, a meter stick, a stopwatch and masking tape.

Necessary Background

Vocabulary:
Flexion
Extension
Gait
Pace

Procedure

Assign a group member to each of the following tasks:

Walking

Timing/Measurement

Range of Motion

Observing

The timer and observers should create a runway.

3 x 11 sheets of plain white paper.

Lay carbon paper white side up on top for the walker to walk on.

While the runway is being made, the walker should have his/her range of motion measured. The person measuring the range of motion does so by using the goniometer.

If there is no goniometer have students roughly sketch the angle that the leg makes when it is bent and use a protractor to measure the angle.

The measurer should measure the angle at extension (straight leg) and flexion (bent leg)

Put a piece of tape down on the carbon paper to mark start and finish lines for timing purposes. When the tape is on the paper, write “START” and “FINISH” on it so that it will transfer through the carbon paper to the letter paper.

When the timer signals, the walker should start.

The observer should watch to see how all the joints of the walker’s leg line up and how the foot hits the floor as a result.

The person measuring range of motion should watch to see how the joints that he/she measures move.

When the walker reaches the finish line, stop time.

The measurer should measure the walker’s stride (the distance between feet on one step).

The timer should count the number of steps the walker took from start to finish to calculate the walker’s pace. (Pace = number of steps/time from start to finish)

The observer should look to the carbon paper to see how the foot struck the paper and incorporate that into the analysis.

Another way to do this is to paint the walker’s foot with finger paint or dip an old sock in paint, just be sure that the walker remains on the paper until their foot is clean.

All members should share their results and write up a final analysis on the sheet attached.